


In the Dark of the Moon

by Residesatshamecentral



Series: A Plague On Both Your Houses [6]
Category: SS-GB (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, Cold War, Recriminations, morally ambiguous spy stuff, plots within plots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 15:54:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16790065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Residesatshamecentral/pseuds/Residesatshamecentral
Summary: A rift threatens to open between Huth and Maugham and an unexpected visitor arrives.





	In the Dark of the Moon

“Christ almighty” said Maugham.

Huth paced restlessly around the room. He felt charged, as though sparks of electricity ran under his skin. He cast the other man a bitter look. “Is that all you have to say?”

“What would you like me to say?” snapped Maugham. “For God’s sake, give me time to think!”

Huth dragged a chair forward and turned it around. He straddled it and lit a cigarette, holding the glowing tip about level with his handler’s eye. Maugham gazed at him coolly, as expressionless as an Iguana.

“Now what if I were to suggest” said Huth “That you expected this from day one?”

“I beg your pardon?” said Maugham politely.

“He said he had wanted a contact for some time. And I don’t think for a moment that you really knew as little as you let on. How long have you lot been watching Springer?”

“Oskar, you are putting the cart before the horse.”

“Quaint little saying. You liar. You two are playing chess in the dark.”

“Oh Oskar. I expected better of you. This isn’t chess. There are dozens of players and the games are much more complex. If everyone were enemies it might be a kind of chess. But your friend of the moment is your enemy tomorrow, and your enemy of yesterday is now your closest ally. Pawns defect and your Queen has her own agenda. The Bishops collaborate with the Rooks on the other side and one of your Knights keeps having breakdowns. It is a cold, strange, solitary world, full of shadows, and full of half-truths. So you think I expected this? Perhaps. Perhaps is the most you are going to get from me on that one, because my job has its limitations. All you need to know is what your role requires you to know.”

Huth let out a slow breath. His face was drawn, his nostrils flared like those of an angry horse. His eyes burned. Below them came the indistinguishable murmur of two voices, and the sound of a door closing. Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

“I thought they were going to kill me” he said, his voice just above a whisper. “And you thought it was a possibility. This is how you work, isn’t it? When you play in the dark, you have to expect every possibility. All you have to go on is what you know about people. You calculated that Springer would try to use me when he found I was your agent. But your calculations left a margin for error. Put me in the firing line, hope the bullets will miss.” He took a drag on his cigarette and blew smoke between his teeth. He grinned emptily. “You and Springer have been dancing around each other like a couple of nervous lovers. How long before you found just what you needed – an agent who could be safely displayed as yours but had the credentials to be treated as theirs? You hope to keep me. He hopes to turn me – or rather return me. How many eventualities are you planning for, old man? How many end in my death?”

Maugham did not reply. His old face seemed more lined. A deferential knock on the door gave him an excuse to get up and call to the butler to come in.

“Pardon me for interrupting, sir” said the butler, with a long look at Huth straddling the chair “but your other guest has arrived.”

“Excellent” said Maugham. He gestured at Huth to get up and follow him. He did, slowly, taking a drag on his cigarette under the Butler’s disapproving stare.

“I hope you will be pleased to see him” murmured Maugham as they descended the stairs. “I know it has been a long time. Still, you seem to have made as much of an impression on him as he made on you, all those years ago.” He raised his voice slightly as they entered the sitting room. “Such a pleasure to meet you at last, Mister Archer.”


End file.
